


Lio Fotia's Coping Mechanisms

by sugarby



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Getting Together, M/M, Post-Canon, References to Depression, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, british author writing british lio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarby/pseuds/sugarby
Summary: "I'm not just gonna sit around and wallow, Galo. We Burnish are free and I intend to live normally again."Again, Galo catches on to it, like this isn't entirely new for him. Yet Galo can't imagine Lio like that. Not burning with purpose and saying 'fuck the government'. Not being an overall bad ass to the point of it making undecided preferences flicker like a bulb on the fritz. And definitely not ignoring the laws of the city to give out foreign snacks.(Or Galo strongly disproves of Lio's unhealthy way of dealing with everything that's going on and he's waiting for a breakdown. Lio swears he's coping until he realises he isn't).
Relationships: Aina Ardebit & Lio Fotia, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 4
Kudos: 152





	Lio Fotia's Coping Mechanisms

**Author's Note:**

> This started off as a drabble, so I'm really glad and proud I was able to add a lot more.   
>  ***CW for binge eating** because this is inspired by my personal experience with snacking as a way of 'coping' through low moods. Read or don't with your wellbeing in mind always.

Lio's very good at being able to just pick a place and take over. Skilfully crafted from the means of having to adapt in numerous do or die situations, roaming one place and another, has lead him where he is now.

Burning Rescue HQ No.3 has a second basement they don't use except to store away unsafe equipment and personal vehicles, Galo's motorbike being one and Aina's sweet red scooter parked beside it. The masses of unfinished gear and scrapped blueprints are Lucia's doing, not that her chicken-scratch signature at the bottom claiming it as hers was ever necessary.

Point is, the basement is spacious enough and not in use so it's near perfect.

Cardboard boxes stacked upon and beside more cardboard boxes and a slab of charred wood across the top make for a pseudo desk. It's not pretty but nothing much in the lives of Burnish have been, so Lio makes do _—_ another well-crafted skill.

He looks good; like he belongs, the ordinary plastic chair becoming a throne under his weight as he leans back, legs crossed on the edge of the desk.

Some days but more than occasionally, there'll be a queue of people in front of him with scarce belongings and the occasional child in their hands. They'll wait and accept the handouts Lio gives them from out of one of his many, many boxes with a foreign address taped to the side. Definitely not from Promepolis.

Galo catches him once in the evening and swears not to tell so long as it's the first and last time. It becomes a streak but he still doesn't tell; he just lets it be, can't bring himself to obstruct whatever Lio's doing because he's sure it's helpful in some way.

People once identifiable as Burnish have been granted privileges and rights thought owed to them by their political defenders, the three heads of MAD BURNISH fighting day in and day out. Essentials and housing are mandatory and those get the scheduled regulation and safety checks often enough.

What Lio provides is bit different.

Galo can't wrap his head around it even as he watches Lio pluck up another box from the ground to open and unveil an assortment of colours from a foreign world. "You're actually smuggling in candy?!"

"Say it louder, Galo, I reckon the other side of the city didn't hear you." Lio feeds him an ungrateful scowl and himself a generous bite out of a wagon wheel _—_ rounded marshmallow between layers of cookie and covered in chocolate from what Galo can see. Lio swallows the piece and slaps the box decidedly, "Listen, my brethren and I have spent the last thirty years with targets on our asses. We've lost a ton of shit, been through hell and back and we're _knackered_! So sue me for wanting a small reminder of how my life used to be!"

Galo steps back with raised hands.

Lio bites into the snack again, a glorified moan passing his lips as he licks the evidence away, "Fucking England and it's tasty snacks that are a hassle to smuggle in." Galo gasps loudly and Lio shushes him with a pointing finger, " _Import_! Shut up!"

"It's not _legal_ , Lio, I feel like I have to remind you."

"Fine, job done." Lio unwraps another snack, eating with purpose and relishing the taste of caramel and rebellion. "Something else you want?"

Galo glances to the box, curious but not looking to be called a hypocrite for asking to try one. He'd get a lecture and lectures from Lio can go on for days, the eight hours of required sleep serving as the only intervals. "Was just wondering where you were."

" _Here_ but if the captain asks, you didn't see me. Don't really fancy him having a go at me."

"I dunno, might have something here. The Captain loves a good cookie."

"That's another thing! What's with you lot calling them cookies? This," Lio holds up a good example, rounded and filled with chocolate chips. "Is a cookie. Everything else is a _biscuit_."

Galo laughs, "You go from terrorist leader to food critic?"

"I'm not just gonna sit around and wallow, Galo. We Burnish are free and I intend to live normally again."

 _Again_ , Galo catches on to it, like this isn't entirely new for him. Yet Galo can't imagine Lio like that. Not burning with purpose and saying 'fuck the government'. Not being an overall bad ass to the point of it making undecided preferences flicker like a bulb on the fritz. And definitely not ignoring the laws of the city to give out foreign snacks.

"Yeah, I hear normal and think candy dealer."

"Right. You just lost the friends discount."

"Oh shit. Wait, I didn't know that was a thing!"

Lio smirks, shrugging, "It _could've_ been."  
  


∆ ∆ ∆

  
Ignis gives a morning speech that's essentially a long-winded way of congratulating everyone on their good work throughout the week and reminding them of work left to be tended to. The odd diversion is to tell someone to stop threatening the creator of a mobile game just because they're on a losing streak (Lucia) and remind someone else that the newly installed poles are for emergency dispatches only, not untapped talents in pole dancing (Galo, halfway down, legs tangled).

Lio doesn't entirely disapprove but he can't very well admit that and keeps to himself, blowing over his small cup of hot chocolate at his actual designated desk. His chair, leather not plastic and with wheels, has his uniform red and yellow jacket over it. His desk isn't littered with personals but he has a shiny plaque with his name on it and a gifted Sanrio plushie from Galo. Hello Kitty doesn't have a smile but she does add a pretty aesthetic to his otherwise boring space, plus knowing who brought her to him always puts a smile on _his_ face.

Ignis mentions that they're finally getting brand spanking new equipment. That the wear and tear of the old stuff finally made the people in charge of their funding realise they'll do more harm than necessary with it. He says something like "Let me show you" and heads for the door leading downstairs to the second basement.

Galo gestures wildly to Lio.

Lio reacts accordingly and catches up to Ignis, "Sir? I can get it for you!"

"It's fine."

"I insist! I hear it's a _real mess_ down there!"

Ignis grasps the door handle. The whole team watches, Galo holding hid breath. Ignis turns it only halfway when he stops, "Lio Fotia, want to explain what you're doing?"

"I, well..." Lio says from the Captain's back, arms around his neck and legs dangling above ground in half commitment. "I can't really."

"Then get off."

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." Lio hops down.

Lucia guffaws and tips out of her chair. Aina whispers an' oh my God' in second hand embarrassment, hardly able to believe that Lio, of all people, did that to their captain; he looked like a koala bear latching on to it's mother! Varys shakes his head but otherwise continues reading the newspaper and Remi refocuses on texting his girlfriend (probably about the insane display he just caught).

Galo feels bad, like he's to blame for not signalling sooner. Or better than making confusing gang signs with his hands like an amateur initiate. He pats Lio's shoulder as he comes back to his desk with his head hung low. As cool as their Captain is, as many passes as some of the members have been graciously allowed, Galo can't be certain he'll overlook _jumping on to his back_ so easily.

"I bumped my nose." Lio whines quietly into Galo's big chest, the heat and sound muffled in his tight shirt. "The fuck is he made of?" All he gets is gentle shushing and soft head rubs and it feels too nice to hate entirely.

Nothing is heard from down in the second basement; the door's been left wide open and no-one's looked away from it, expecting to find something pretty scandalous if it made the MAD BURNISH leader act out.

When Ignis returns, it's not with anything incriminating like a dead body but a packaged cookie in hand. "...I'm not going to ask who or why you're running a candy shop down there." He opens his mouth, closes it, holds up the cookie, "But I'm taking this. It's not bad."

Galo nudges Lio, "Told ya, he loves a good cookie!" 

"Galo Thymos," Ignis calls, "You were an accomplice?"

"Yes." Lio says.

" _What_?!" Galo double takes, betrayed. He stresses to Ignis, " _No_! I told him it was wrong! _Very_ wrong!"

"Sure." says Aina, "Because you're _always_ sensible, Galo."

"Just get that stuff out of here and don't do it again. _Whoever_ 's responsible." Ignis orders and implies he doesn't know, and he shouldn't _technically_ , but his gut feeling lands his focus over to Galo and Lio.

Lucia waits for Ignis to leave the room before she slides over to Lio's area, "Yo, I want a piece of the action!"

Like earlier, Galo says no as Lio says sure and they exchange contrasting looks _—_ Lio smug and Galo about to rip out his own hair, he's so frustrated. Is this what he causes the others when he doesn't listen to them? God, he's so fucking _sorry_ , he gets it now.

Lucia's hands wriggle before they dive into the box of goods and pull out Jelly Babies; the colour and name caught her eye, mind imagining a village of gelatin people being sacrificed for the food of her craving.

Varys grabs himself a Crunchie bar, a structure of thick honeycomb coated in chocolate; he lets no one look him in the eye with judgement, he can easily put them on their asses.

Galo's in theatrical tears at this point, claiming they're all betraying him.

Remi takes a simple Dairy Milk bar because his warm drink apparently isn't complete without a snack.

Aina is shy to wheel herself over, pretending it's the cultural difference luring her as she grabs a Mini Roll (Lio explains it's fundamentally the same as a Twinkie but without the derogative name of being a hot, young fuck).

"I am shocked! Shocked, I say!" Galo cries but the rest of his argument about them sticking together and doing the right thing? It goes out the window the moment Lio shoves a Curly Wurly in his mouth.  
  


∆ ∆ ∆

  
At Ignis' order, they shift the lot of boxes to Galo's apartment a couple stories up in a complex. The elevator's busted so they're using the stairs, taking the last two of way too many boxes up in their arms up. It could've been either of their places, really, except Lio mentions at the last minute that he doesn't want evidence of the illegally imported goods on him in case his place gets raided.

Galo shakes his head, " _Why_ would it get raided? That's, like, oddly specific."

"I used to dabble with fire, that's enough of a reason for most people."

"Those people suck."

"No argument here, Galothy."

Nicknames supposedly weren't a thing between them until recently. In fact, Lio was pretty strict about it when _firefly_ and _firecracker_ came out of Galo's mouth too often for comfort and it left unrecognisable goosebumps across Lio's skin; like an allergic reaction to whatever that was doing to him inside.

So he called that shit off, except he's taken to saying _Galothy_ without realising it most times. It's a play on words, a reference to the young girl who was swept away and taken to a new world _—_ what it feels like to be in Galo's company since meeting him.

When the last box is stored away in the cupboard by the entryway with a mighty push from Galo, he joins Lio on the couch, sitting with a gratifying sigh and letting the material softly press into his bare skin (no one can order him to put on a shirt in the comfort of his own home).

His corner vision shows Lio helping himself to the packet of Love Hearts he kept back, picking out two at a time and reading their cute messages before eating them.

They look like _chalk_ to Galo; sugary chalk. They leave pastel like dust on fingers and clothes too. God knows how Lio's ploughing through an entire bag.

Those sweets got them into this mess in the first place. Any day now, they could get a knock on the door from the police and have them thrown away for _this_. Galo hopes it was worth it in the end.

"What were you thinking smuggling candy in anyway?"

"The candy here sucks."

"Okay, that's true but _not_ the point."

Galo's a fan of the sweet messages on these english sweets too. More so when Lio offers him some and they read 'BE MINE?' and 'KISS'; he can't help the way his heart just goes but he knows better than to think it's intentional. Right? Either way, crunching them between teeth, they still feel and taste very much like sugary chalk.

Lio settles into a comfortable cross legged position, turns to face Galo and puts the packet of Love Hearts in his lap. "Okay, so...when school exams were over. When I had bad days and I didn't know how long it'd be until I felt better, I'd bu a ton of snacks and go through them in, like, a couple hours. I figured I could get through shit easier with something sweet to look forward to. Like when your parents say you can have your pudding after you eat all your veggies."

"You obviously didn't then 'cause you're short as hell." Galo _earns_ the kick to his side but he still cries out like a little bitch. "So all this is your way of dealing with everything that happened? _Is happening_."

"It's not ideal but yeah."

The city is being rebuilt for a more peaceful tomorrow but there are reminders of what it went through in the wreckage. Kray's serving his life sentence behind bars and the supporters left behind are still pushing his sickening agenda.

Morning comes, night falls, Lio gets up to achieve what nonetheless feels just as far away as it always has.

"Rather than letting it all consume me," Lio unwraps another set of Love Hearts from the multipack and offering another two to Galo who takes it without question, "I'm doing this and taking shit one day at a time. I can only do so much as I am now."

"You're still the brightest, hottest thing I've ever seen."  
  
"Nice try, you just want my sweets."  
  
"I want _you_."  
  
"You can't handle me." Lio means this in the best and worst ways, both playful and cynical and self loathing.

He has both of his planted on the ground yet feels unbalanced, lost in space and time between everything he knew and what's left for him now as a regular twenty-something. A twenty-something who feels and hurts as much as anyone else can.

A twenty-something who feels grass blades stroke his feet when they're bare and sighs at the warm glow of sunlight on his skin and becomes inexplicably cozy when it rains.

He owns hopes and dreams of his own and those deserve recognition; he doesn't burn for the sake of burning anymore at the request of a hundred voices.

Sometimes, though, he doesn't know what to do with that.

Galo bumps their shoulders together, "I don't get naked and co-pilot a giant robot with _just anyone_."  
  
"I suppose putting my name first was quite _gallant_ of you."

"It's worth a kiss _at least_."

Lio laughs, "How humble of you." He passes over another Love Heart: _All Yours_.

Galo cracks it in his mouth; the taste has grown on him since Lio started feeding him. "You don't need snacks to cope. I get it, okay? But you don't have to deal with this like that or alone. Let me help. Let me _in_ , Lio."

They have this connection, _he's sure_ they do; beyond partnering the _Lio De Galon_ months ago and fist bumping but between racing hearts and ideas of what they could be like unified _as much more_.

"Galo." Lio says, hesitant. Burnish were never allowed things for more than a second. Can he keep Galo? Call him his? "Okay."

Galo nears like he hasn't heard him, enough to press their foreheads together, for their noses to rub. Part of him, supposedly as demanding as the Promare were, is shouting for more. "Y-Yeah?"

Lio nods, "Yeah." He holds Galo's face to keep him close awhile longer, fond of the soft burning within; unfamiliar but welcome and loud but it's only his voice.  
  


* * *

  
Galo devotes his break time at work the next day to making a start on helping Lio out of his stunted depression. He might not feel it now but it'll rush out unbearably later if left untreated; he wants him to know it's absolutely fine to cry and he has the best shoulder in the city for it.

Everyone gathers in the break room where several rows of foldable chairs have been set up in the centre of all the appliances. It looks less like a place to eat and chill and more like a police station interrogation room.

Galo gestures to the chairs for them to seat themselves so he can start. He's standing in front of the projector they use for briefings, a stick in hand that's identified to be the mop he broke against a ceiling light when he twirled it above his head.

No one was impressed.

Lucia's slouching in her seat, smacking gum and arms folded, not happy about being dragged into this _'pressing matter, really, Lio's happiness is on the line!'_. She doesn't exclusively ask about it, just suggests that Galo suck his dick like any normal boyfriend would.

"We're not...you know." Galo sort of argues, "Besides, that's a short term solution!"

Lucia snorts.

"The _problem_ is short, not my _—_ "

Varys coughs loudly.

Aina's presence is for the sake of support but she is wondering why they all have to be gathered like for an impromptu meeting (that Galo doesn't even have authorisation to call). She also supposes she's obligated to keep an eye on him, the others will leave him to his shenanigans as a live and learn sort of teaching.

Remi's here coincidently; he was making himself a hot drink when they all filed in. He keeps his back to everyone, mostly to avoid Galo's desperate attempt for eye contact so he can guilt him into joining the meeting happening just a few feet away.

Varys heads for the door but looks back to promise Galo, "I won't say nothing to Ignis but I'm not covering for you if he asks."

Galo gapes at him just leaving like that and pleads with everyone else, "Guys, come on, it's _Lio_! He _needs_ us!"

" _Does_ he?" Aina asks with a head tilt, "The guy who escaped from freeze force _single handedly_ and turned in to a _dragon_ that nearly flambéed the entire city?"

Lucia's eyes magnify, "He fucking did that shit?! Now _I'm_ _depressed_!"

"It comes with a price, Lucia." Remi reminds from the corner, pouring steaming coffee into his mug. "You know, the whole racism thing."

"That sucks obviously but _come on_ , a dragon!"

It _is_ pretty cool but it's also hurtful to see it cry _—_ to see _Lio_ upset and pushed to such lengths. Galo brings up the first slide, the prologue to his plan to rid Lio of his unspoken depression.

"Speed this up, Galo." Lucia orders. She sees more stalling titles like 'here's why' and other long shit so she impatiently winds her hand and Galo scrambles to the very last side: bullet points. Ah, nice. _Wait_. "Dude, making a plan about making a plan is _not_ a plan."

"I can't do _all_ the thinking!"

"Or any of it, apparently." Remi adds.

" _Only_ the person holding the stick can talk!" Galo states.

"Okay." Lucia uncurls a middle finger.

" _Real_ mature, Lucia." Galo smacks the stick against the list of bullet points a little too hard and it cracks the wall plaster. There's a silent moment where he is fearful for his life and everyone else is saying silent prayers, that it's been nice knowing him. Galo steps in front of it and half of the slideshow is on him now. "So, step one is we need a plan to make him happy. I'm thinking taking him out on walks _—_ "

"Like a dog."

"Lucia, stick! As I was saying, a walk. That should be nice and calming." Galo spares a moment or two for anyone else to jump in and contribute. When they don't, he continues, "We can _—_ "

" _Not_ hold secret meetings about me behind my back, for a start."

Galo hums and seesaws a hand, "I was thinking something _practical_."

"Dude." Lucia hisses and Aina, sitting beside her, points over to the door.

Galo turns away from the slideshow to follow the direction and chokes, Lio standing there with crossed arms and looking irritated. "Lio, hey! We were just, uh..." He fumbles with the projector button to turn the presentation off but he'd written on the board in the wrong marker so the notes and small drawings of Lio scowling stay.

There's another long silence. Remi sips his coffee from the back, Aina sits with her thumbs twiddling and Lucia shares her wish for popcorn out loud. 

"For the record. This?" Galo makes a circular motion, gesturing to the entire set up, "Totally wasn't part of the plan."

"You didn't have much of a plan." Lucia says.

" _Still_ not holding the stick, Lucia, but _thank you_!"

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just gonna..." Lio casually takes a seat at the front next to Lucia and pulls out a bag of british sweets from his jacket pocket, offering them to her and Aina. "Crack on then, Galo."

"C-Crack..crack on?" Galo gulps. Is he seriously supposed to _—_?

Lio's hand turns like Lucia's did earlier, "You were discussing with everyone about how to make me happy."

Lucia says, "He implied you were a depressed dog."

Galo gapes. Why is everyone betraying him left, right and centre today? He saves lives, damn it, so why's he being punished?!

Lio nods, taking that information in quite calmly. "Mind you, I was totally fine until about ten seconds ago when I walked into _this_." He holds eye contact with Galo who just wants to melt into the floor. " _Well done_ , Galo."

* * *

Galo pushes forward the small plate between them, "I'm really sorry." He said snacks didn't have to be the answer but in the case of an apology, there's an exception.

Lio eyes the plate with interest, "Sorry you did it or that I walked in?" He doesn't care that the customers around them in the cafe might easily think he caught his boyfriend cheating; in fact, go ahead and let Galo feel even more ashamed.

What he did was _sneaky_.

"Both!"

Lio hums, considering. He nods to the plate, "...Is that a...Jam Roly Poly?" He asks because an english pudding has no business being here in Promepolis but he and his childhood know that heavy sponge and jam with custard combination anywhere.

"Yep! Googled the recipe and asked them to make it specially for you." Galo grins proudly.

Lio, dignified, waits a moment before he tucks in with a fork, moaning at the taste in the mouthfuls he inhales, "You _absolute legend_." 

"Me or the cake?"  
  
"Sorry, Galothy, but _this_ is everything. We had a good run together, you and I _—"_

" _Wow_."  
  
"But this Jam Roly Poly and I are very committed to each other. Hope you understand."

"You at least owe me a bite, Lio!"

"No, _you're_ treating me to this as an apology!" As far as apologises go, it's not grand but Lio can't say no to a good bowl of custard and it goes so well with the Jam Roly Poly; it's one of the few things his country can do right.

Galo tuts, waving a finger, "Sharing puts a healthy spin on relationships, Lio."

" _I'll spin you_ across this diner, _don't start_."

Galo does start and the spare fork on his side of the booth clashes into Lio's tablespoon, the two utensils reenacting a great sword fight over the dessert steadily going cold. They make enough noise to draw onlookers, some fond and some disturbed by their exaggerated battle cries, but they aren't asked to leave so they're good.

When Galo eventually surrenders, it's mostly to lean back in the booth for a good look at just how content and happy Lio is right now, "I thought you'd be sad without it, you know. The Promare." Ah, of course he did.

Anyone would. The natural reaction to losing a part of yourself _—a_ limb or entwined soul—is to be despondent and distant; a pearlless shell with no reason to open itself to the world.

Lio prides himself on being tougher than that. Flames flicker against the wind, they don't just extinguish. He pushes the plate aside to folds his arms on the table, "Galo, let me let you in on a...well, not a secret, but. Those bikes we rode as Mad Burnish? We named them after the places we first burned in. Kind of ceremonial."

"Okay?"  
  
"Mine's Detroit, I'm from England."  
  
Galo's eyes widen slightly, "So you weren't always...?"  
  
Lio knows how to be to seem like he fits in like everyone else because, once upon a time, he _did_. "Before I was starting fires with my own body, I was messing with lighters and spare plastic for fun."  
  
"Oh my God, you were Sid from Toy Story!"  
  
Lio kicks him under the table, laughing but still offended because that kid was rotten and _hideous_. "Shut up! I'm opening up to you and you're taking the piss!"

"I would never! That's _public indecency_!"

"I mean you're _making fun_ of me, idiot."

"It means I like you!" Galo grins wide and ups a thumb.

So the generation before their time claims, defending cheeky pushes and preschool harassment as the shy beginnings of love within souls too young to comprehend.

Lio reckons Galo must like him quite a bit in that case.

* * *

Slushie is _numbingly_ cold.

Lio realises this with full consciousness as he goes from browsing an aisle in a supermarket to having a large cup of it chucked in his face, chilling splinters hitting his face all at once from nowhere. It grasps a handful of his oxygen, ripped form his lungs the moment he opens his mouth to breathe.

He hears laughing and high-fives from two among a stilled audience of shoppers while he stands and blue slush drips from him and creates a puddle. An employee runs off for a mop; another approaches him hesitant with a towel.

Lio grips it with a violence he doesn't simmer in time, startling the employee into running off.

He hears them mockingly congratulate each other on 'putting out the flame' followed by a slur of 'candlestick' and they include terrorist.

Lio throws the towel down with a thick slap. Burnish don't kill; he's proudly lead with that rule at the forefront of every action but this could be what turns his philosophy nasty. It's been some months, seasons have come and gone and night has turned to day but assholes like these are still on the prowl.

They don't expect the retaliation, mistaken in believing that without fire there will be no burn.

Lio hisses out a curse and yanks the nearest one by the back off their hood, slamming them over his knee and down to the floor. He spins himself to cross the distance over their grovelling body to shove his foot into the gut of the second and they go down like a tower, clutching their stomach with pain and regret on their faces.

"Fu...fucking candlestick," one rasps out through a hard cough.

"Speak up, mate." Lio jams the heel of his boot into their bruising abdomen and they cry out with immediate apologises like a running faucet. _Pathetic_. Lio presses down harder, "I didn't ask for an apology, I said to speak the fuck up!"

A pair of security guards come down from the back of the supermarket, hands at their waists for their cuffs. 

Lio sighs, steps off and away from the culprits, "Better late than never, I suppose. These assholes thought it would be funny to—" Cold metal binds his wrists from behind. He looks between the guards, "You're _not_ serious? Come on, you must be _having a laugh_."

But they look serious, unwilling to even hear him out. It seems with every turn, the view remains the same: ruin and wreckage and what's left from Burnish propaganda that he proudly lead.

" _They_ came at me!" Lio shouts as he's lifted from the ground and sandwiched between them, "Fucking put me down and listen, you _racist_ dickheads!"

"You have the right to remain silent," One officer says, "So shut the fuck up."

Lio spits in his face.

They throw him not too kindly into the back of a police car and drive.

∆ ∆ ∆

"Hi, I'm here for Lio Fotia."

When Aina answers a call from the Promepolis Police Department, she expects a pick up request for Galo or maybe Lucia because those two love to gallivant and sometimes Galo's kindness lets Lucia run away with her experiments (like the mentos in soda thing. A school project that she took to eleven hundred, setting off several dozen in a cafe, Galo cheering and both of them being reprimanded for it later).

But it's not for them.

"Yeah, he said he was with you guys," the officer at the reception desk says in a bored tone, eyes glues to their computer screen with disinterest. "Thought he was talking out his ass."

"No, he wasn't. Is he _—_ can I take him now?" Aina looks around the lobby.

The officer lazily points to the cell across from them, "In there."

"Thanks." Aina steps over to the direction and the guard standing by slides the bars across. She waves, "Hey."

"Thanks for coming to fetch me." Lio exits with a look that's translated as a plea to not to Gueira, Meis or Galo because they'll go mental, which is registered with an assuring nod. "I kept saying I was with Burning Rescue but these guys must have their ears up their asses."

“Watch it or you’ll be back in there!” the officer standing guard snaps.

“Fucking bite me.”

“Ohhhkay.” Aina steers Lio to the direction of the door, pushing him to the entrance before he can demonstrate a graphic wrestling move on the officer and land himself back in jail. Right now, she could do with a drink. They _both_ could and the nearest bar is conveniently only a few streets up.

∆ ∆ ∆

“So!” Aina slaps a broken beat to the edge of the counter. The bartender walking by wisely moves her glass to the side a little and she apologises in quick breath, her excitement becoming mild shame. Lio turns his head until he calms a smile away. Aina clears her throat, “I don’t think I officially welcomed you to the team. Welcome, Lio!”

“Thanks but the party was enough.” 

And very loud from whatever Spotify playlist someone had compiled full of ear ringing dubstep and karaoke pop. There was a massive chocolate cake too with sloppy writing that must’ve boldly ‘LIO FOTIA WELCOME PARTY’ before it moulded and melted into nightmarish abstraction.

“I’m sure Galo’s been _very_ welcoming.” She winks a little too late after her statement and gives a thumbs up for too long.

“Am I meant to know what the fuck you’re on about, Aina?”

“Sorry! I, well...you guys seem really close? Closer than the rest of us are? Closer than I am with him. A-Am I wrong?"

Lio thinks about it. Technically, they orbit each other's spaces quite often, and Galo only plans to do it more with this 'plan' of his to keep Lio sweet (while keeping his actual sweets in a fucking cupboard on a high shelf, the bastard).

But past that?

Lio thinks about the radiance and sound of Galo’s entire being, how he’s drawn to it in a natural pull. How he doesn’t like to think about moving on with his life and not having Galo in it.

“Nope, we’re not especially close.” Lio tips his bottled order back against his lips. He exhales, wiping his mouth after, “Besides, he’s been driving me up the wall lately.”

“Oh?” Aina thanks the bartender when they put down a small plate of snacks: salted crackers. She takes one, “What’s he done this time?” and pops it in her mouth.

“You saw his half-baked plan. He’s expecting me to have a breakdown and is watching me for signs. I keep telling him I’m fine.”

“ _Are_ you?”

“You calling me a liar?”

“I dunno.” He sounds intimidating and she’s sure she doesn’t want to cross him but she’s feeling braver tonight. Probably the drink. She puffs out her chest and faces his accusing stare with one of her own, “I’m not calling you a tru...ther? I think.” The unsureness only encourages Lio's snort. "Don’t laugh at me, I’m _trying_ here!”

“Is _that_ what that was?" Lio laughs.

Aina whines, “Galo makes it look _so easy_! We watch you guys go back and forth. Like you fit, you know? Like you're old friends."

“Yeah? Then he should know that I really am _fine_ and leave his stupid plan be."

“Wanting your friend to be happy _isn’t_ stupid. He does stupid things but Galo’s more woke than people realise." She holds her head with a lost stare across the counter at the display of drinks, "Oh God, _please_ don’t tell anyone I said _woke_.”

Lio laughs again, “You’re cute.”

“I’m sure that’s inappropriate since I’m your superior.”

“ _I’m_ sure I don’t give a fuck and we’re not on the clock anyway.”

Aina picks another cracker and throws it at him, expecting him to either catch it in his mouth like Galo would or playfully retaliate. _Not_ for him to turn around in that same moment and the cracker to get lost in his hair. She gapes, “Um…”

Lio turns back, “What?”

“N-Nothing!” Aina shakes her head wildly, preferring to survive this. She’s heard of Lio annihilating people for much worse, like a wrong look. “I'm sure all the articles and news coverage on Burnish _—"_

"Ex."

"Oh, sorry. Ex-Burnish. I'm sure all that's stuff bound to get you down even a little bit." Grief hits everyone differently and at different times. "Or mad, or just..." she shrugs. "A lot of things. Whatever. Galo just wants to be there for that."

"He's stubborn and relentless."

"Two of his main quirks." Aina loves those about him.

How he never gives up. How he always goes the distance. It's all aimed at Lio and that's a bit unfortunate in her case but she's happy for him. Glad someone on the side of hate and ignorance has someone in their corner. The heat never bothered Galo anyway.

"He's waiting for me to have a breakdown. I'm angry, obviously. After everything we did, Galo and I, the world's still so fucked up and hateful. It's like, what was it all for? Why did we set the world on fire just for it to stay the same? We do all this contribution just to be undermined and mistreated."

“I get it.”

Lio raises a brow.

“Hello? _Women_ have had it tough since the beginning of time.” She downs her drink, sets it down. “Honestly, as soon you hit puberty the whole world comes down hard on you. Guys start treating you differently. We get judged and objectified and _ugh_ , it's a lot. So believe me, if anyone has any idea.” She points to herself, an ally.

“I’m sorry for the problematic ones of my gender.”

“And I’m sorry about ignorant bigots.”

Lio holds out a fist and she bumps hers against it, much softer than Galo’s but just as righteous.

∆ ∆ ∆

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Your hair looks blue."

"Slushie."

"Is that new or something?" Galo thoughtfully strokes his hair, "I don't think I've ever heard of that colour."

Lio shakes his head, "No, never mind." He hasn't come to Galo's apartment instead of his own to break his vow to not mention what happened, it's just closer than his place. Easier to be here than there.

"Oh!" Galo does a lot of things without a second thought, all the more so, apparently, when it comes to Lio, plucking something from the back of his head when he's turned. It's a chip, a lot like the ones in the small dish he and Aina shared. Galo throws it in his mouth. 

"Did you just...that's been in my hair, Galo."

"And your hair's lovely."

Lio stares, mildly disturbed.

"So anyway," Galo presents a notepad with colourful bold marker text. "I've made a list of things we can do tomorrow! I've taken advice from online forums--"

" _Galo_ _._ "

"And _we can do this_ , Lio! I can help! So, starting tomorrow, we're going on a nice, calming walk around the block."

"It's freezing!"

"You can wear my jacket. Then we'll take a therapeutic painting class down town in the main hall and after we _—_ "

"Right now, Galo, if it's okay with you, I just wanna sleep." Lio smiles half apologetically before falling on to the bed in the spare room with closed eyes, conking out instantly.

* * *

Brightly and early the next morning, Galo rolls out a long slip of paper he calls an 'itinerary' like it's much more civilised and put together than a list of random activities he hopes will 'turn that frown upside down!'. If Lio is depressed like he believes (Lio still votes he isn't, that he's just in a mood and it'll pass) then he ought to know he's taking on a lot more than he's qualified for but that's never stopped the world's no.1 idiotic fire fighter.

Galo declares it clearly with a hard thump to his chest and he claps at Lio at _seven_ _in the fucking morning_ for him to get 'up, up, up, rise and shine! Say hello to the day, let's feel fine!'. He sings it over and over while Lio brushes his teeth, tiredly glaring at Galo's reflection in the mirror. This is what he gets for staying over, huh.

 _'Gao means well'_ Lio reminds himself.

Galo reinvents himself as a personal trainer, geared up in a hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers and leading Lio out of the house and on a casual stroll around the block. The casualness of it is scarred off by Galo's hooting and shouting like an off-key cheerleader. Lio reminds himself again that Galo means well, which is how he restrains himself from kicking him in the crotch and turning back.

They return and Galo's somewhat chill enough for them to leave the strenuous stuff for another day (' _No chance_ ', Lio straightaway refuses) so they can cozy up on the couch and watch back to back episodes of FRIENDS. They stay long enough for Netflix to ask if they're still watching ("Don't judge us, you don't know!" Lio says and flicks popcorn at the screen) and even longer for the infamous debate to come up.

"No, no, it was her idea!" Galo says, "She literally says it!"

"Yeah but that's not the point!" Lio argues, "You don't break up with the love of your life and then fuck the next thing on legs that comes by! The disrespect!"

They, like the sitcom couples, make it through and find themselves laughing in tears again over their good times. When it gets late, Lio goes home with a lot less weight on his shoulders, a smile on his face and fond memories to keep him company.

He figured it would last a little longer.  
  


∆ ∆ ∆

  
Lio awakes with a squint to an ambush of brightness and voices. The couch had been too comfortable and he too still tired for the hectic week of transporting sweets that taste like home, like everything he knew, and being arrested.

The time in the bottom corner of the screen reads a little after one in the morning. News headlines pass by underneath the suited presenter relaying the latest and greatest in what's new but still wrong with the world.

It takes one mention of a name and coverage on experiments long-kept a secret for Lio to spiral. 

He moves on auto pilot to the fridge for his tub of assorted chocolates, family edition. He tears off the lid and grabs handfuls to unwrap and eat by the second. Two becomes five, then seven, then so much he can't process anything but the sickly taste sticking to his teeth.

_ "—revious city governor, Kray Foresight, sentenced to life imprisonment for the endangerment of civilians and abuse of government property, assault and slandering, the Burnish are now viable for exoneration." _

_"Indeed,"_ a co-anchor says, _"But it will be a very long time before the lives lost and ruined are fixed. No one will be able to forget what's happened in Promepolis. It will forever remain scarred by its history of burnish experimentation, over hundreds named and unfortunately killed."_

Thyma.

Lio isn't conscious of his latch on to the counter behind him until he steps back and stumbles. He lets himself clatter to the floor, cold linoleum hard against his flushed skin.

Kray's face is clearly visible in the pictures shown, pretending to smile and playing the hero. _Galo's_ hero. An arm around the firefighter who was so chuffed to be recognised, noticed.

It wasn't just Burnish that were casualties.

Lio doesn't know how long he stays on the kitchen floor for. Doesn't even realise he's openly _wailing_ until nauseas guilt overwhelms him from his gut.  
  


* * *

“I’ve booked an appointment with a therapist.”

Lio comes over to what's practically his second home first thing the next morning, unbothered by a shirtless Galo answering with bed hair.

It once seemed impossible for his hair to look even more unkempt and the newly opened bag of Love Hearts in his hand is a surprise but not unwelcoming.

“I realised last night that you’re right, _as weird_ as that is to admit. I’m not entirely okay. But I can be. I _will_ be. But I'm not going to rely on you and some plan you put together."

Galo's looks as if he means to speak but stops himself and just nods.

"I'm not fully whole either. It's like pieces are missing and I don't know if that will go away entirely but I know I need to do this. Does that make sense?"

Galo nods.

"I don't want you to think this is goodbye or I'm ditching you. You're a great guy, Galo. Everything you've done for me, I appreciate it, really."

Galo smiles.

"Please say something."

Galo leans in close like he wants to whisper something. As Lio goes to turn his head for easier access to his ear, Galo holds it steady with a gentleness. Steering him, he presses his lips to Lio's with a light audible smack. Galo's tongue pushes through the familiar shape and sour taste of a Love Heart.

Lio takes it out, holding it between gloves fingers and feeling like he's due for another cry but for better reasons.

_'I Love You'_

Galo swallows the lot in his mouth and bashfully holds up the bag, "What can I say? I'm hooked."

Lio can't blame him, he knows the feeling. "They're sweeter than I remember." he pops it back in, cracks it and it dissolves.

Galo nods, "Cool. Right. Okay. Nice.”

“Speak in sentences, Galothy.”

“I, er, you...you, I _—_ ”

“Would you like to buy a few consonants?”

There's a Love Heart piece that reads 'BITE ME' among the many sweet messages and Galo playfully embodies it with a push into Lio, sending him out and on his way to therapy with another kiss for good luck.

Then one more just because.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really eat sweets _but_ the few I like, I have included. Also, here's some info on [Love Hearts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Hearts#Messages)


End file.
